Progressive majority on SF Board of Supervisors not...

1of2Norman Yee, the longest-serving supervisor on the board, was elected president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle

2of2Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer didn’t speak highly of the process that wound up electing Norman Yee president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle

San Francisco’s progressive supervisors have once again struggled to coalesce around a cause, leading some to question how effective they will be even as they’ve retaken the Board of Supervisors majority.

The board gained its first progressive majority in years with the addition of Supervisors Gordon Mar and Matt Haney. Their first task was to elect a president on Tuesday. But, just as in the past, the progressives were distracted by personal differences and disorganization.

“A progressive agenda should have led the conversation,” said Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer. But “I feel like (the political fighting) just took off like a snowball, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, what’s going on?’”

While the board successfully elected progressive District Seven Supervisor Norman Yee, the run-up to the election was mired in bickering, infighting and clashing personalities. It was a messy, head-turning few weeks, where the group struggled to rally behind one of the several supervisors who raised their hands for the job. In the end, Yee emerged as a compromise candidate who received enough votes to win only because of Ahsha Safaí, Catherine Stefani and Vallie Brown, supervisors outside of the core progressive faction.

“It’s an important symbol of possible division between the progressive faction of the board,” said Jason McDaniel, a political science professor at San Francisco State University. “It’s some indication that they may have to scale back some of their priorities if they don’t have a consensus approach within their faction.”

This lack of organization has hampered progressives for years. In 2011, when the board was choosing a replacement for then-Mayor Gavin Newsom, who had been elected lieutenant governor, the progressive-leaning board failed to gather enough votes for its preferred candidate, Sheriff Michael Hennessey — and instead ended up choosing City Administrator Ed Lee, who was considered a moderate.

That vote led to an impassioned speech by former Supervisor Chris Daly, who called it the “biggest fumble in San Francisco progressive politics.”

The progressives attempted to regain power again after Lee’s death in 2017 by ousting then-Supervisor London Breed from the interim mayor position, which she had taken over as board president. The goal was to keep her from ascending to the mayor’s seat in the June special election. But they couldn’t get the votes to install one of their own as interim mayor, so they instead elevated Mark Farrell, a wealthy white man from the board’s moderate faction. A progressive supervisor — Yee — nominated Farrell.

SF Board of Supervisors

Then came the June 2018 election, where progressives Mark Leno and Jane Kim ran a joint campaign in an attempt to change the city’s moderate axis of power. But, in the end, the two failed in their one-two ranked-choice voting strategy to win against Breed, who was backed by the city’s establishment.

“As a progressive myself, I’ve always said that we are our own worst enemies. We get caught up on the personalities and don’t focus on the substance of the issues,” said former Supervisor David Campos. “And I don’t think that bodes well in terms of progressives pushing forward an agenda that actually serves the working people and middle class of San Francisco.”

Tuesday’s contentious vote was the latest example of the fractured progressive politics and a sign of tumult that may lie ahead as the board takes on bigger issues, such as the city’s housing and homelessness crises. But others say it’s just a sign that San Francisco’s political factions are more fluid than they used to be.

“The differences between moderates and progressives in San Francisco are as slight as they’ve ever been,” said Jim Ross, a longtime political consultant. “Moving forward, each controversial piece of legislation will probably break based on the agendas and priorities of each of the supervisors, not based off of labels of moderates or progressives.”

While distinction between San Francisco’s progressives and moderates has grown increasingly blurry over the past few years, the differences generally come down to specific issues: Progressive politicians tend to push for more affordable housing, more restrictions on tech companies and higher taxes. Moderates, on the other hand, tend to be pro-development and more business friendly.

“When you don’t have political parties, like in San Francisco, being able to maintain a coalition is harder,” McDaniel said. “On one hand, that could be a good thing ... but ideology is not a reliable way to keep a coalition together.”

While the election of a board president is always a scramble, several supervisors said there was a slightly different tone this time as the discussions focused more on personality than politics.

Supervisor Hillary Ronen said there was sexism and misogyny in the process that led to the election of Norman Yee, rather than Ronen, as Board of Supervisors president.

Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle

The deepest division centered on Hillary Ronen. As she campaigned for the position, she said she would work to bring the board together, but also wouldn’t be afraid to joust with her colleagues — whether it be the mayor or fellow supervisors — to get things done. But in the end, her active push for the position rubbed some supervisors the wrong way and cost her votes.

And without naming anyone in particular, she said she encountered a wave of sexism and misogyny from her colleagues in the process.

On Tuesday, the board originally voted 7-4 to elect Yee. Ronen’s votes came from herself and three new supervisors who had never worked with her on the board, Haney, Mar — progressives — and Walton. Then Mar asked to rescind that vote and elect Yee by acclamation.

Supervisor Norman Yee and Supervisor-elect Gordon Mar chat before Mar is sworn in to the Board of Supervisors.

Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle

The supervisors then voted 10-1 in favor, with only Ronen dissenting.

“I’m disappointed,” Ronen said. By electing Yee, “I think my colleagues sent a message that they want to see slower incremental change. They want it to be nice and collegial, over quick and ... urgent.”

But those who voted for Yee said his election was a success for the progressives. He is the most senior member of the board and tends to line up with the progressive side on issues such as childhood education and social programs. Since being elected in 2012, he has gained a reputation as measured, flexible and mild-mannered. He typically doesn’t crave the spotlight or conflict.

“We chose someone with enormous experience and who is committed to maintaining relationships and keeping us together,” Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said.

Yee is taking over for Malia Cohen, who was termed out, and now must steer the largely progressive board in its dealings with Mayor London Breed — who may often have a different opinion on how to get things done.

After the vote, some supervisors stood up at the meeting and spoke about how they were proud of their colleagues for finally coming together on the vote and how much they were looking forward to moving on and getting back to work. But when asked outside of the board chamber how they really felt about their performance over the past few weeks, some of their answers struck a different tone.

Trisha Thadani is a City Hall reporter for The San Francisco Chronicle. She previously covered work-based immigration and local startups for the paper’s business section.

Thadani graduated from Boston University with a degree in journalism. Before joining The Chronicle, she held internships at The Boston Globe, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and was a Statehouse correspondent for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.